An f18 has just crashed at Raleigh int airport

[RDANGELO]

This is being reported on local TV. Crashed near terminal c. That is all I have right now.

[displacedtexan]

1. Aargh!

Sad.

[mouse7]

2. Crashed "into" or crashed "near"? n/t

[Minstrel Boy]

4. crashed at the airport

Saw the pictures on CNN just now. Looks as though the only casuality is likely the pilot.

[fryguy]

9. only thing I've been able to find....

http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top_stories/?SecID=1

A plane has crashed near Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Initial reports said the plane is on fire.

The Department of Public Safety confirmed that an F-18 Hornet has crashed. So far, there is no word on whether there are any injuries.

[HFishbine]

3. Damn!

I saw a couple of them screaming overhead in Greensboro a couple of hours ago. Not a frequent site. I wonder what they were up to. There's no military base in Raleigh or Greensboro.

[drfemoe]

23. Seymour Johnson

in Goldsboro is a training base for F-15s.
Prolly some F-18s there too, etc.

http://www.seymourjohnson.af.mil/

[HFishbine]

25. Right-o

I guess that would be the closest. I forgot about that one. Thanks.

[htuttle]

5. "That must be one lousy pilot"

-- George W Bush, 9/11/2001


Hey, don't yell at me...I'm just quoting the pResident...

[fryguy]

6. did he really say that?

[KittyWampus]

7. Yes, Wouldn't That Be Another Great Ad Against Him

Bush is set on using Kerry's votes and words against him.

Kerry shouldn't hesitate to use this along with recent joke about no WMD.

[fryguy]

11. or that 9/11 gave smirk

a "trifecta"

[HFishbine]

14. Did he say that?

I've heard it plenty too, but I can't find anything other than blogs and message boards "reporting" it when Googled. Is there a credible news source that cites the "lousy pilot" comment?

[RedSock]

20. go here for links

http://complete911timeline.org/main/essayaninterestingday.html

Less than two months after the attacks, Bush made the preposterous claim that he had watched the first attack as it happened on live television. This is the seventh different account of how Bush learned about the first crash (in his limousine, from Loewer, from Card, from Rove, from Gottesman, from Rice, from television). On December 4, 2001, Bush was asked: "How did you feel when you heard about the terrorist attack?" Bush replied, "I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower - the TV was obviously on. And I used to fly, myself, and I said, well, there's one terrible pilot. I said, it must have been a horrible accident. But I was whisked off there, I didn't have much time to think about it." (White House, 12/4/01)

There was no film footage of the first attack until at least the following day, and Bush didn't have access to a television until 15 or so minutes later. (Washington Times, 10/7/02) The Boston Herald later noted, "Think about that. Bush's remark implies he saw the first plane hit the tower. But we all know that video of the first plane hitting did not surface until the next day. Could Bush have meant he saw the second plane hit - which many Americans witnessed? No, because he said that he was in the classroom when Card whispered in his ear that a second plane hit." (Boston Herald, 10/22/02) Bush's recollection has many precise details. Is he simply confused? It's doubly strange why his advisors didn't correct him or - at the very least - stop him from repeating the same story only four weeks later. (White House, 1/5/02, CBS, 9/11/02) On January 5, 2002, Bush stated: "Well, I was sitting in a schoolhouse in Florida ... and my Chief of Staff – well, first of all, when we walked into the classroom, I had seen this plane fly into the first building. There was a TV set on. And you know, I thought it was pilot error and I was amazed that anybody could make such a terrible mistake. And something was wrong with the plane..." (White House, 1/5/02)

Unfortunately, Bush has never been asked - not even once - to explain these statements. His memory not only contradicts every single media report, it also contradicts what he said that evening. In his speech to the nation that evening, Bush said: "Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government's emergency response plans." (White House, 9/11/01) It's not known what these emergency plans were, because neither Bush nor anyone in his administration mentioned this immediate response again. Implementing "emergency response plans" seems to completely contradict Bush's "by the way" recollection of a small airplane accident.

[Minstrel Boy]

24. "Terrible pilot" mp3 here:

http://www.dubyaspeak.com/audio.shtml

[HFishbine]

27. Right-o

Thanks to you and Sox!

[UpInArms]

30. here's the Whitehouse's own link to it

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011204-17.html

Q One thing, Mr. President, is that you have no idea how much you've done for this country. And another thing is that, how did you feel when you heard about the terrorist attack? (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Jordan. Well, Jordan, you're not going to believe what state I was in when I heard about the terrorist attack. I was in Florida. And my Chief of Staff, Andy Card -- actually, I was in a classroom talking about a reading program that works. I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower -- the TV was obviously on. And I used to fly, myself, and I said, well, there's one terrible pilot. I said, it must have been a horrible accident.

But I was whisked off there, I didn't have much time to think about it. And I was sitting in the classroom, and Andy Card, my Chief of Staff, who is sitting over here, walked in and said, "A second plane has hit the tower, America is under attack."

This is about 7/8ths of the way down the page.

And can someone please tell me what television had the first plane flying into the first tower on their screen?

[htuttle]

Bush says he said that, but I'm not entirely sure if he actually did

You see, the problem is that Bush says he said that the morning of 9/11 when he saw the FIRST plane crash into the WTC on television. However, there was no film or video footage of the first plane crashing into the WTC until the next day, 9/12.

So BUSH says he said it, and apparently thought it rather funny, but the problem is, he couldn't have said it when he said he did. He has to be lying about something here, but your guess is as good as mine exactly which thing he lied about regarding this quotation.

[catzies]

22. An official WH transcript that doesn't come up in Google anymore

But I know I took a screen-shot of it, because I knew it would disappear down the memory hole. If I find it on my hard drive at home I'll re-post it.

[toopers]

36. I read the statement, but Bush does not actually say "first" airplane.

He says he saw "an" airplane. How does the timeline of his classroom visit mesh with the 9/11 attack? Did he go into the classroom before the second plane hit the tower?

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[fryguy]

32. Pilot is ok....

....now, with your permission as apparent leader of the thought and speech police, may we resume with our "childish prattle"?

[htuttle]

34. It's a crappy thing to say after an airplane crash, isn't it?

That's what I thought when I heard Bush say it in Sept 2001, too.

[Warpy]

8. LINK

http://www.wral.com/news/2953163/detail.html

[Columbia]

26. From the article, there are no injuries thankfully

Looks like the pilot had the wherewithal to steer the jet into an unpopulated area before ejecting. Good on him or her.

[Twillig]

37. That's one terrific fucking pilot.

There, that oughta satisfy kosher.

[catmandu57]

10. Isn't the F18

a navy plane? or am I confusing it with the F14.

[Cush]

12. Yup

Navy and I believe the Marines have their own squads

[mobuto]

18. I don't think enough people are going to answer the question

So I'll answer it again, just for good measure.

Yes the Navy and Marines both fly the F/A 18.

[mobuto]

13. They both are

although the USMC also flies Hornets.

[BOHICA06]

15. Navy & Marine n/t

[ewagner]

16. Navy and/or Marines n/t

[fryguy]

17. both are Navy jets

F-14 is older, and was featured in Top Gun.

F-18 is newer and is replacing the F-14.

[Riptide]

19. I was just talking to my friend, and her husband saw the accident..

He just called on her cell phone to tell her about it. He was waiting for his flight at the Raleigh airport, and he saw the crash. He thought the pilot had ejected, but he wasn't sure. Now, he is a bit freaked out, and they have closed the airport.

So sad.

[phillybri]

21. Pilot ejected, is alive...

n/t

[Just Me]

29. Good news. Hope everything/one else is okay. *eom*

[mmonk]

31. No casualties

pilot ejected. F18 Navy Hornet. I live about 5 minutes from RDU Airport.

[Sparky McGruff]

33. The smoke plume was pretty impressive

I could see it from my office in Chapel Hill, probably 10 miles away.

[mmonk]

35. When I went to look, my view was blocked

by trees in an area behind my house. I'm going back out to take a look (I'm a real estate agent and I spend time on my computer at home checking the mls).